Voting for election to North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council complete: Official

According to the Assam State Election Commission, 100 of the 280 polling stations were classified as ‘sensitive’ and 27 as ‘very sensitive’

SILCHAR: More than 56% of the registered voters exercised their franchise during the election to the 22 seats of North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) in Assam on Monday, officials said.

Dima Hasao SP Mayank Kumar said that the election process was peaceful and no untoward incident was (ANI/Videograb)

Candidates fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the council’s six of the 28 seats unopposed. Voting started on the remaining 22 seats at 8am and continued till 4pm. State election commission officials said 55.9% of the 141,124 voters exercised their franchise till 3pm and the final numbers are likely to be about 60%.

“Conducting polls in Dima Hasao was challenging because of geographical locations and the ballot boxes are still returning. The final number will be clear only after the polling officers return,” an official said.

According to the Assam State Election Commission (ASEC), 153 of the 280 polling stations were classified as ‘comparatively safe, while there were 100 stations that were categorised as ‘sensitive’ and 27 as ‘very sensitive’.

Election officers said 86 candidates from the Congress, Trinamool Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were in the fray for the 22 seats. Some independent candidates were also in the race.

Superintendent of police of Dima Hasao district, Mayank Kumar said that the election process was peaceful and no untoward incident was reported. “10 companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and adequate number of police personnel were deployed for today’s election,” Kumar said on Monday.

However, the TMC alleged that BJP leaders were allowed to illegally enter the polling areas during the election.

“They stopped the voters from reaching polling stations and later entered the polling rooms. We called the police but those goons were inside for around 15 minutes. We have demanded a proper investigation,” said TMC leader Sushmita Dev.

Dev said the TMC fielded candidates on 11 seats and expected to become the main opposition party. “We were the only party, apart from BJP and independent candidates that were fighting on the ground. We’ll emerge as the main opposition at NC Hills Autonomous Council,” Deb said.

The BJP projected Debolal Garlosa as the presumptive Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the autonomous council. The BJP had also fielded some surrendered militants. During the campaign, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took credit for bringing the militants to the mainstream and promised that the surrendered militants will get skill development training so that they get jobs.